Production I.G in collaboration with Fuji Television
Network announce
the production of a new full length computer graphic
animation feature
film entitled "Hottarake no Shima - Haruka to Maho no
Kagami" (tentative
English title: "Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic
Mirror")

Today, American-made 3DCG animation feature films have
become a well
established and recognized global reality in the
entertainment industry.
However, budget restrictions and lack of know-how prevented
similar
productions to become prevalent in Japan so far.

Tokyo-based Production I.G was one of the first animation
studios in
Japan to recognize the potentiality of the upcoming digital
era, and has
been dedicating time and resources to the establishment of
a fully
equipped production environment and a 200 hundred people
creative and
technical team that could support the realization of 3DCG
feature-length
animated films.

And now, after a 3-year preparation period, the highly
anticipated first
project presented by Production I.G's 3D team in
collaboration with Fuji
Television Network is going to be a fresh departure from
3DCG animation
as we know it today. "Oblivion Island: Haruka and the
Magic
Mirror"(tentative English title) will inherit the
unique expressive
style that has made Japanese animation hugely popular
around the globe,
and at the same time it will pursue a completely different
texture from
Western style 3DCG animation. While making full use of the
state-of-the-art in digital techniques, I.G aims to
entertain you with
heart-warming visuals and pioneer a new course of
Japanese-made 3DCG
animation appealing to the international audience.

The movie will be distributed in Japan by Toho Co., LTD.
and the
Japanese theatrical release is slated for summer 2009.

WORLD VIEW - Your favourite teddy bear. That model kit that
took so long
to complete. The picture book you used to read over and
over again. The
shining stone you found that day in the park. Where do all
your
childhood's treasures go when you grow up? In this
story, we meet
fantastic creatures that gather all these little objects
that fall into
oblivion as they are forgotten by their owners when they
step into
adulthood. These creatures sneak into our world from a
different
dimension, and unseen by humans, they take all the ditched
and forgotten
"treasures" into their world. Here, they use
their booty to build their
own city, a fairy-tale like place called...Oblivion Island!

STORY - Haruka is a teenager like many. Her mother left
this world when
she was a kid, and her father took after her ever since.
The movie opens
with Haruka visiting the Inari Shrine in Musashino, in the
outskirts of
Tokyo. With her greatest surprise, she sees a
"fox" (or 'something'
looking like one) carrying a toy plane. But as she goes
after the funny
animal, she finds herself on... Oblivion Island! Here,
Haruka encounters
the teddy bear she used to play with when she was a kid.
And suddenly,
other memories from her childhood come to her mind. But
humans are not
supposed to be on Oblivion Island, and the Baron, who rules
that world,
has put an eye on that unexpected intruder. From here, the
story bends
dramatically into an unpredictable direction at increasing
and
uncontrolled speed...
Will Haruka find her memories, and a way to get out from
the island?

SCREENPLAY: Hirotaka Adachi and Shinsuke Sato
Probably better known by his alias Otsuichi, Hirotaka Ando
is a hugely
popular novelist whose works have often been transposed
into comics and
live action movies, for which he personally wrote the
screenplays, such
as "Goth" (2002, 3rd Mystery Grand Prize winner),
"Waiting in the
Darkness" (2002) and "Zoo" (2003). Born in
Fukuoka in 1978, he made his
professional debut when he was only 17. He's reportedly
a big fan of
Studio Ghibli's movies.

DIRECTOR: Shinsuke Sato
Born in Hiroshima Prefecture in 1970, Sato is a film
director,
scriptwriter and video game creator. He graduated from the
Musashino Art
University, like Satoshi Kon and Ryu Murakami. His
directorial debut
"Ryonai Genshuku" (Dorm Austerity) was awarded
with the Grand Prix at
the Pia Film Festival 1994. Notably works include,
"Princess Blade"
(2001, director and scriptwriter), "Spring Snow"
(2005, scriptwriter)
and manga-based "Sand Chronicles" (2008, director
and scriptwriter), all
of them live-action movies. Oblivion Island is his highly
anticipated
debut in animation.

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